The University’s Pantheon

The University Pantheon is one of the most remarkable cultural-historical sites of Georgia. Founders of the University, who established various scientific schools and directions in Georgia, are interred in the garden of the first block of the Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University.

In 1927, the first rector of the University, Petre Melikishvili was buried in the University garden. A year later, on the 10th Anniversary of TSU, which was celebrated in Georgia and the entire South Caucasus, the foundation stone of the monument to Petre Melikishvili was laid down. In his speech dedicated to Petre Melikishvili, Vice-Rector Korneli Kekelidze said: ‘’You are not with us on the 10th Anniversary of our University but your grave will feel the great respect and love that your students feel for you. Thousands of years will pass, generations will come and go, but your monument and your glorious name will live forever and will inspire future generations’’. These words can be dedicated to all the founders of the Georgian higher education institution.

Ivane Javakhishvili (1876-1940) – Initiator and supporter of the foundation of the Georgian University; the first dean of the Faculty of Philosophy and the University Rector; author of fundamental works in almost all the scientific fields; initiator of the establishment of the Georgian National Academy of Sciences; head of the History Department of the Georgian National Museum; director of the Shota Rustaveli Museum.
Sculptor: Tengiz Gviniashvili

Petre Melikishvili (1850-1927) – Founder of the University; prominent chemist; the first rector of the University, the head of the Department of Organic Chemistry at the University; founder of the chemistry laboratory and Organic and Non-organic Chemistry Departments; winner of various prizes and member of the academies of sciences of various countries.
Sculptor: Iakob Nikoladze

Ivane Beritashvili (1884-1974) – Founder of the University; founder of the School of Physiology in Georgia; founder of the Department of Physiology at the University; founder and head of the Institute of Physiology; winner of various prizes and member of the academies of sciences of various countries.
Sculptor – Silovan Kakabadze

Korneli Kekelidze (1879-1962) – Founder of the University; prominent scholar of old Georgian writing; founder of the Department of Old Georgian Literature at the University; the dean of the Department of Philosophy; Vice-Rector of the Tbilisi State University; director of the Shota Rustaveli Institute of Georgian Literature.

Sculptor: Giorgi Ochiauri

Dimitri Uznadze (1886-1950) – Founder of the University; founder of the Georgian School of Psychology; one of the founders of the Georgian National Academy of Sciences; one of the creators of modern Georgian pedagogy; author of the first Georgian world history textbook for the secondary school.

Sculptor: Giorgi Ochiauri.

Giorgi Chubinashvili(1885-1973) – Founder of the University; initiator of the Georgian art history; founder of the Art History Room at the University and the Art Museum of Georgia; founder and the first rector of the Tbilisi State Academy of Arts.
Sculptor: Karlo Bakuradze

Shalva Nutsubidze (1988-1969) – Founder of the University; philosopher; scholar and historian in Georgian philosophical reasoning; literary critic; specialist in cultural studies; translator; Vice-Rector of the University; one of the founders of the Georgian National Academy of Sciences.
Sculptor: Otar Parulava

Andria Razmadze (1889-1929) – Founder of the University; founder of modern mathematical science in Georgia; the first dean of the Faculty of Mathematics-Natural Sciences; author of the first mathematics textbook in Georgian language; author of the Georgian mathematical terminology.
Sculptor: Bidzina Avalishvili

Giorgi Akhvlediani (1887-1973) - Founder of the University; outstanding linguist; author of the first Georgian textbook in linguistics for the University students; founder of the experimental laboratory of phonetics at the University; initiator of the linguistics society and the discipline of speech-language pathology in Georgia; scholar of general and experimental phonetics, Sanskrit, Ossetian and Greek languages.
Sculptor: Otar Parulava

Akaki Shanidze (1887-1987) - Founder of the University; outstanding linguist and philologist; head of the Department of Armenian Language; head of the Department of Georgian Language; head of the Department of Old Georgian Language; one of the founders of the study of Georgian language structure and history, Georgian dialectology, textology, Armenian and Albanian studies; scholar and publisher of Georgian biblical texts; author of the first dissertation defended at the University.
Sculptor: Bidzina Avalishvili

Giorgi Tsereteli (1904-1973) – Graduate of the Faculty of Philosophy at Tbilisi State University; famous specialist in Semitic studies; founder of the Department of Semitic Studies at the University and the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Georgian National Academy of Sciences.
Sculptor: Giorgi Ochiauri

Niko Tskhvedadze (1845-1911) – Founder of the University; construction manager of the first block of the Tbilisi State University, formerly, the Tbilisi Gymnasium; prominent public figure, teacher and publicist.
Sculptor: Giorgi Shkhvatsabaia.